Hello Guest!
Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum.
There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.

Hi,In the book it says to water with a cup from a bucket of sun warmed water . I've been doing that ever since I started but now that it is getting so hot some of my boxes need to be watered more then once a day and I find myself running out of the water that has been sitting out for 24 hrs.My question is if you use a hose to water or add more water once the sun warmed water runs out do you have to attach a water filter so not to kill the microbes in the MM ?If so do you recommend a certain kind in particular ?Checked online and they are pretty expensive .Thanks

I did what someone suggested to me when I asked the same questions... I tried my hose to see if it was terrible... and it wasn't.

I DO use sun-warmed rain water. But we haven't had rain here in a week and I'm out of rain water. I don't have enough buckets to hold enough city water to water every day.... and my hose seems to work fine.

And bending over to scoop out water, or carrying 5-gallon buckets full of water... hurts my back. The hose with 3' shower wand on the end means I can stand upright unless I need to bend over and pluck a strawberry or pea... or weed...

@HOUSTONMOM wrote:.My question is if you use a hose to water or add more water once the sun warmed water runs out do you have to attach a water filter so not to kill the microbes in the MM ?If so do you recommend a certain kind in particular ?Checked online and they are pretty expensive .Thanks

I also would like to know the answer about killing the microbes if using a hose with city water with chlorine added.

I do know that if you fill a bucket with water from a hose and let it sit out in the sun, the chlorine will evaporate. I do not know how long it takes. For my compost pile, I use an aquarium bubbler to help get rid of the chlorine in the bucket faster. But I use the hose directly (with chlorine in the water) on the vegetables without letting the chlorine evaporate.

Thank you so much for replying to my question .I also don't have enough buckets yet to be enough to water each bed more then once a day and i'm six months pregnant so lugging them around from one bed to another is also not easy .It's just that we work so hard to make the mix and add compost tea going to the length of adding sugar to feed the micro organisms then adding chlorine to it seems counter productive.I have a large pot that doesn't have holes in the bottom that i was using but it doesn't have a cover.That along with my buckets was enough for the garden but hubby kept complaining about it becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes and didn't rest till i put it away (couldn't find anything to cover it with that didn't blow away in the wind). that is why i looked into filters but they are expensive and need to be changed often.

As for the bucket with skeeters... I put a cup of apple cider vinegar in my big horse trough -- 110 gallon -- about once/week. And a tablespoon in each bird bath. No algea... and no skeeters... And we are in skeeter central down here up against one of the TVA lakes...

I read a thread here -- I think -- about the difference between chlorine and chlor--something. Depends on what your municipality puts in the water. Chlorine evapoated just fine from the ground. The other did not.

Apparently I have the good kind... my plants and earthworm LOVE what comes out of my garden hose.

Was reading about how to use vinegar to kill weeds .Does it affect your plants when you water with it?Around here they use a lot of chlorine in the water so much that you can come out of the shower smelling like bleach .Was thinking that can't be good for the plants.

Houston, I kill weeds with pure WHITE vinegar spritzed or paint-brushed on in full sunlight.

I use a tiny amount of APPLE CIDER vinegar to freshen birdbaths and watering containers. Plants don't seem to notice and I've done it for a decade in the dog's wading pools to keep algea/mosquitoes down. They drink it or not, but none have ever sickened from it.

@HOUSTONMOM wrote:Hi,In the book it says to water with a cup from a bucket of sun warmed water . I've been doing that ever since I started but now that it is getting so hot some of my boxes need to be watered more then once a day and I find myself running out of the water that has been sitting out for 24 hrs.My question is if you use a hose to water or add more water once the sun warmed water runs out do you have to attach a water filter so not to kill the microbes in the MM ?If so do you recommend a certain kind in particular ?Checked online and they are pretty expensive .Thanks

Just my .02 Every climate is different, and I have found that using the cup of water works while the plants are still small. Once it's hot out and we have winds and no rains to speak of, I have to water the entire beds or they just don't hold moisture. I use a wand and generally water the whole bed. Besides that, I don't have the time to water each plant with a cup of water. I would be out there all day long going in circles Last year I did keep a bucket or two of "sun warmed" compost tea and used that from time to time. I don't know that it made much of a difference. I'm sure it didn't hurt any, but not certain it was necessary.As for watering with a hose, if it is that troublesome, you can buy filters for your outside water source. I've got no worries watering (or drinking for that matter) from a hose. I'm of the belief you can worry yourself to death about all the minor details and take all the fun and pleasure out of gardening.

I always start out with sun-warmed water buckets and my trusty 2-cup measuring cup and water by hand. All my young plants get started that way. But as the season progresses and it gets hotter out there and I can't stand to be outside in the hot sunshine for more than a few minutes at a time, I turn on the hose to water. My garden is my pleasure, and when it becomes a dreaded chore, I make changes to fix that situation. I'm lucky with filtered well water, but if a bit of chlorine wasn't hurting me, then I hope it wouldn't hurt my plants. If I was really worried about chlorine, I'd get the filter attachment to add to my hose for watering my veggies.

There is a science to the thought behind warm water for plants. In my master gardener classes it is taught that plants will uptake nutrients better in warm water than cold. I keep the covered buckets and cups available but if I'm short on time or ambition then I use the hose with the nozzle on gentle spray.

@yolos wrote:I think the original poster was worried about the chlorine killing the microbes in the soil not the vegetables or herself.

Thank you all for helping .Yolos that is exactly what I mean .I water my fruit trees with the hose first because they are not planted in MM and second because each one needs almost an entire 5 gallon bucket and they are doing well.But nothing like my SFG. Ever since I started my SFG I've been doing things the hard way to stay away from chemicals I've seen almost every pest mentioned on the sight and still prefer to pick them off then spray or dust the beds so I don't hurt the good insects that are doing a great job pollinating my garden(Loved a post by UnderTheBlackWalnut talked about fear factor ,sharing with nature and not being perfect).Started on April first with transplants and some seeds and already have tons of blooms and some fruits going .The biggest problem I have is with my pepper plant leaves turning yellow but producing like crazy figured out that they need more nitrogen and seem to be regaining color back slowly but better. As RoOsTeR said the hand watering method is working for now while the plants are small but once they grow they need so much more especially here in the Texas sun brutal! I'm not scared of using the hose just avoiding it for now .It's just that I have a really good thing going and don't want to mess it up.As always you are all great at helping and an inspiration to us newbies

Saw this at my brother's house yesterday and thought of this thread. He has a 110-gallon horse trough. It has a threaded clean-out valve at the bottom for drainage. He got a a fitting at Lowe's to thread in there which accepts an on-off spicket and a garden hose -- he just took the threaded cap to Lowe's and built the pieces there. He put this tank on the hill behind his house and fills it with rain water off his roof. Then waters his grape vines from the hose attached to the bottom. He had to elevate the tank with cinderblocks to get a little pressure -- a very little -- but now he's thinking about a low-pressure drip irrigation system attached to the tank. If he runs low of rainwater he can fill with a garden hose... he's looking at a float in the tank to automatically fill when it gets to a certain low level... The open top means debris can get in -- you could put a screen mesh over it. But the open top also allows chlorine to evaporate before use...

@ETNRedClay wrote:Saw this at my brother's house yesterday and thought of this thread. He has a 110-gallon horse trough. It has a threaded clean-out valve at the bottom for drainage. He got a a fitting at Lowe's to thread in there which accepts an on-off spicket and a garden hose -- he just took the threaded cap to Lowe's and built the pieces there. He put this tank on the hill behind his house and fills it with rain water off his roof. Then waters his grape vines from the hose attached to the bottom. He had to elevate the tank with cinderblocks to get a little pressure -- a very little -- but now he's thinking about a low-pressure drip irrigation system attached to the tank. If he runs low of rainwater he can fill with a garden hose... he's looking at a float in the tank to automatically fill when it gets to a certain low level... The open top means debris can get in -- you could put a screen mesh over it. But the open top also allows chlorine to evaporate before use...

Something like this might work for you, too.

That sounds like a great rain barrel ,that's a really good idea Thank you!It got me wondering if you can fill a store bought rain barrel with hose water from a top opening somehow if hasn't rained in a while and just let the chlorine evaporate .At the same time use a hose attached to the rain barrel to water so you get the best of both worlds. Definitely less then buying water filters on the long run , saves on the water bill when it rains,and don't have to listen to hubby complaining about killing the grass with my buckets or mosquitoes .Thanks again!

Is using BT dunks not permissible? I have an EarthBox which by definition has stagnant water, but once I started using BT dunks or granules the mosquitoes stopped reproducing in the water reservoir. A small piece of BT dunk is enough for a 5 gal. pail, and it disintegrates over a couple of weeks.

@point wrote:Is using BT dunks not permissible? I have an EarthBox which by definition has stagnant water, but once I started using BT dunks or granules the mosquitoes stopped reproducing in the water reservoir. A small piece of BT dunk is enough for a 5 gal. pail, and it disintegrates over a couple of weeks.

Bt dunks go into all my rain barrels whenever I see mosquito larvae. It works. I use about a quarter of one, per drum. I also crumble them up, because it seems more effective. When I just put in a piece, it seems to work only right around the piece.

Our community water supply is from wells, so chlorine use is minimal. When the rain water runs out, I have to supplement. The biggest problem, is that you can turn on a hose and scald your plants. I have to remember that the first water from the hose needs to go back into a barrel, and wait until it cools down before applying any to the garden. After it's run for a few minutes, it is then cooler than the soil - which I think the plants appreciate on a hot day.

@point wrote:Is using BT dunks not permissible? I have an EarthBox which by definition has stagnant water, but once I started using BT dunks or granules the mosquitoes stopped reproducing in the water reservoir. A small piece of BT dunk is enough for a 5 gal. pail, and it disintegrates over a couple of weeks.

Hi point,

I have ten Earth Boxes. I don't know what "BT dunks" means. I am wondering if this is something a need to add.

Yes, chlorine in the water will kill off some of the soil microbes(it's what it's supposed to do in the city supply). You can off-gas the chlorine by leaving it in an open container overnight. You can also buy a filter that will remove much of the chlorine in city water(some of them are cheap, some are expensive, I personally use a "Gard'n Gro Garden Dechlorinator by Rainshow'r"...I'm not saying it's better or worse than anything else on the market since I haven't tried them all).

Two suggestions on irrigation:

Drip irrigation: you will need a siphon breaker, filter for large particulates, pressure regulator and timer(in that order) plus the actual drip irrigation stuff. I strongly suggest replaceable emitters over emitters that come with the tubing. You can also add in a dechlorinator along with a fertigation system(I use fish emulsion for fertigation, but it does tend to block up every now and again). Drip irrigation will save you further on water. Set your timer for 4am and put in emitters under each intersection of the SFG grid(you could theoretically make your grid with the drip irrigation system). An emitter will produce a plume of moistness about 8" in MM. I water for 1/2 hour during none rainy weeks(for about a gallon per square) and I just up the number of days during the summer(sometimes up to every other day, but that was before I started using mulch). A plant requires ~1" of water per week. 1" of water is roughly equivalent of 0.6 gallons before evaporation. This is why I water 1/2 hour with a 2gph emitter(1 gallon of water).

Mulch: 6" of mulch is a wonderful thing to prevent evaporation and to keep the MM cooler.

My 82 yr old mother-in-law is going to take care of our plants this weekend. We have a 4 cu ft wheelbarrow (Ames Easy Roller). I plan on filling this with water (in a sunny but easily accessible spot). My mom-in-law shouldn't have any problems having to mess with a hose and faucet (ours squirts a lot).

We don't use this wheelbarrow very much, so I think it will make a great conduit for water. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner.

You will notice that it costs $94.00 (it has a lifetime warranty). We got ours (which is the same brand and looks exactly the same) for less than $20.00 at Home Depot. The only difference is that ours has a two year warranty.

@Unmutual wrote:Yes, chlorine in the water will kill off some of the soil microbes(it's what it's supposed to do in the city supply). You can off-gas the chlorine by leaving it in an open container overnight. You can also buy a filter that will remove much of the chlorine in city water(some of them are cheap, some are expensive, I personally use a "Gard'n Gro Garden Dechlorinator by Rainshow'r"...I'm not saying it's better or worse than anything else on the market since I haven't tried them all).

Two suggestions on irrigation:

Drip irrigation: you will need a siphon breaker, filter for large particulates, pressure regulator and timer(in that order) plus the actual drip irrigation stuff. I strongly suggest replaceable emitters over emitters that come with the tubing. You can also add in a dechlorinator along with a fertigation system(I use fish emulsion for fertigation, but it does tend to block up every now and again). Drip irrigation will save you further on water. Set your timer for 4am and put in emitters under each intersection of the SFG grid(you could theoretically make your grid with the drip irrigation system). An emitter will produce a plume of moistness about 8" in MM. I water for 1/2 hour during none rainy weeks(for about a gallon per square) and I just up the number of days during the summer(sometimes up to every other day, but that was before I started using mulch). A plant requires ~1" of water per week. 1" of water is roughly equivalent of 0.6 gallons before evaporation. This is why I water 1/2 hour with a 2gph emitter(1 gallon of water).

Mulch: 6" of mulch is a wonderful thing to prevent evaporation and to keep the MM cooler.

Thank you so much for the mulch and filter information.I like the irrigation system but unfortunately I can't dig in my yard because I have my neighbors phone and cable wires running though out my yard along with electric and gas pipes.Very thankful SFG is above ground .Thank you all learned so much from all of you.

Chlorine is not your only worry -- cities have been adding chloramines recently, which take much longer (at least 72 hours) to dissipate, and by doing so, create ammonia. You can remove it chemically, but it's not cost effective for a garden. For my aquariums, I use a product called Chloram-X; it removes both, and by 'bubbling' the water for 24 hours after dosage, the ammonia seems to dissipate.

It's a sad state of affairs when we must so greatly scrutinize our water sources; I would recommend calling your local water supply company, voicing your concerns, and requesting a site survey on how to best mitigate your specific water issues.

Yes, most jurisdictions these days do use chloramine instead of chlorine. We've touched on that subject a bit here on the forums in the past.

As far as calling it a sad state of affairs, I would have to disagree. Our water supplies are actually quite safe and not everyone is concerned about killing off microbes in their gardens. There are many more organisms that are in water that left untreated can be much more harmful to the public health.

@RoOsTeR wrote:Yes, most jurisdictions these days do use chloramine instead of chlorine. We've touched on that subject a bit here on the forums in the past.

As far as calling it a sad state of affairs, I would have to disagree. Our water supplies are actually quite safe and not everyone is concerned about killing off microbes in their gardens. There are many more organisms that are in water that left untreated can be much more harmful to the public health.

I've been leaving a watering can out with my regular city water in it and using it the next day to water my plants - but I already need more water than my (now) two jugs can handle.I agree with others that towns add some questionable stuff to our water. I even have a counter-top water distiller that I run daily and anything we drink or cook with - I use the distilled water.But...for me - I will use water from my hose to water my SFG beds because I'm an extreme 'middle-of-the-roadist'. If my plants are wilty and droopy and need a drink - by jimmy I'll get my hose and help them out - and they seem happy for it. I figure that's still a million times better than any veggies I'll buy at the store.So - do what you have to do to enjoy your garden and make good use of the time you spend there!